What The Critics Say

"If it wasn't for the great acting, a solid script and strong direction, this would be a tiresome movie." Robert Roten LARAMIE MOVIE SCOPE "Lord of War is an extremely compelling tale with fantastic acting performances, great dialogue and dark humor that still makes you laugh in the middle of gripping drama" Willie Waffle WAFFLEMOVIES.COM "An arresting and disturbing piece of work that gets its message across without coming off as overly preachy." Pete Vonder Haar FILM THREAT "When scenes, performances and even individual shots in Lord of War are considered alone, they're brilliant." M E Russell OREGONIAN "Lord of War is about the problem of arms sales, not the solution. It's full of shocking stories, but I came out feeling flattened, without hope. The film's approach to violence is unflinching: this is what poor people are doing to each other with the guns the West sells them, it screams - but there's no suggestion it might be stopped, or slowed." Paul Byrnes SYDNEY MORNING HERALD "It is a big budget political film that is entertaining and very relevant. And as laconic "loner" Yuri, Nicolas Cage keeps the film on track with a rockin' good central performance he was born to play." JJJ REVIEWS "The cast members are all excellent, and though the film could be accused of contrivance, it makes its points with rare venom and energy." David Stratton ABC AT THE MOVIES "Seeing Niccol skilfully weave themes of politics, commerce, guilt and responsibility through a story that’s also fun and fascinating to watch is almost reward enough to see Lord Of War, and he achieves what few of the biggest directors of today manage in telling you Yuri’s story; he’ll have you thinking about it long after you leave the cinema." Drew Turney FILMINK

The Inside Story

"Lord Of War masquerades as an action-adventure like Top Gun (1986) yet is as satirical as David O Russell’s Gulf War drama Three Kings (1999), at times a jaw-dropping critique of American foreign policy that tosses the nation’s 'right to bear arms' gun-lovin’ culture right back into its lap." SBS THE MOVIE SHOW

There's always a story behind 'the story' and the making of "Lord Of War" is no exception. The 'story' is a damning one and it has to do with financing the film. Surely making a film about illegal arms sales wouldn't be a problem in the land of the 'gun happy'? It appears it was. "Since the film does not shy away from stating the facts about the role of the U.S. in supplying arms, it was considered too controversial. The task of finding U.S. financing was made even more difficult by the timing of the script submission," says Writer/director Andrew Niccol. Why? Because as Niccol went on to explain it was "one week before the beginning of the war in Iraq." It certainly made their task a difficult one as Producer Philippe Rousselet recalls. "When you try to sell a movie that tells the story of an arms dealer in the world of gun-running a week before the war in Iraq starts, it gives you an idea of how difficult it’s going to be to put your finance together," he said. "It actually took me a year and a half. And I probably have had three financing structures so I could have made three movies with all the deals I have closed on the film; that ultimately went away." As cinemagoers will dicover "Lord Of War" most probably rattled a few chains in the U.S.A. Perhaps it was a little bit too close to the truth? "Almost all of the events in the film have an actual precedent," Niccol said. "Military helicopters being sold as rescue helicopters, arms dealers changing the names and registrations of their ships out at sea, a well-know arms dealer released from U.S. custody under mysterious circumstances, the facts about the plundering of Soviet military hardware after the collapse of the U.S.S.R., are all true." And Niccol is right on the money. In fact, "In Ukraine alone between 1982 and 1992 over $32 billion in arms were stolen. No culprit has ever been caught or prosecuted. Many believe it is the greatest heist of the 20th Century." Knowing these facts, it's not hard to see why investors in the U.S.A were a bit 'gun shy'. The story of the rise and rise of arms dealer Yuri Orlov is a powerful one indeed and thankfully neither Rousselet nor Niccol were willing to give up on getting the story to the big screen. "It’s such a powerful story, such powerful characters, such a unique way of writing," says Rousselet. "It’s rare and very fortunate to get the chance to read a script like Andrew’s." Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage, who plays the lead role of Yuri Orlov, says he was also impressed by Niccol's script. "I certainly was impressed by the fact that it didn’t pull any punches, the honesty of it I think," Nicolas Cage reflects. "Not many people have the guts to lay it out the way Andrew has. That’s part of the reason that I wanted to do the script, it seemed to be so unlike anything else. It had a unique and original story and it’s an inside look at what I think is the reality of the gun trade." Cage was also impressed enough to sign on as a Producer. He says that "Lord Of War" is definately no low budget film. "We got involved about two years ago and started talking to Andrew about the script and started to have meetings about the concepts, talking to other actors and how it would be put together," he says. "It’s not a low budget film, it is maybe one of the largest truly independent films; in that there is no real American component financing this film." "It’s a $50 million picture and it’s a very independent picture, it’s very hard to make it look like what it should be in the script and it requires a lot of effort from everyone in the crew," Rousselet revealled. "They have worked on a limited budget and come up with a movie that when you look at the screen, you think it’s like a $200 million picture." "Lord of War" takes the audience on what seems to be a mini world tour. "Since Yuri is an international arms dealer, the movie is essentially a road movie," says director Niccol. "The film features over 13 countries that are unified by the dramatic cinematography of Amir Mokri and the ingenious production design of Jean Vincent Puzos. Their talents combine to depict the sad absurdity of the world of arms dealing." And a very colorful tale indeed. On colorful tales, here's an interesting one about Nicolas Cage's first meeting with Andrew Niccol. It must have been a memorable one. Why? Producer Rousselet remembers that first meeting. "He [Niccol] met with Nic for the first time and he met him in his office and he had a table like 10 meters long covered with pictures from magazines and newspapers, everything, about how he was seeing the film; what it will be. He was describing the film to Nic like this and at the end of the table was an actual AK-47. Andrew asked Nic, 'So, do you want to do the film or not?' Nic said, 'Yes'." And was it true that Niccol only saw Cage in the role of Yuri? "Nicolas Cage is maybe the only actor who could make an arms dealer like Yuri Orlov both plausible and likeable at the same time," Niccol said. There's no doubt he was right about Cage. It's a role tailor made for the actor who produces the right mix, convince audiences that Yuri is believable, capable and manipulative. His Yuri is dour, laconic, detached and yet at times, darkly humorous. Many will dislike the charcter and they'd be right in doing so because let's face it, this is one job where you could never afford to be a nice guy. As "Lord Of War" reveals, everything comes at a cost as Yuri soon discovers. Cage isn't the only one in the cast who was impressed with the powerful story Niccol had written into his screenplay. "Everything about the way Andrew writes surprises me," comments Ethan Hawke. "First of all, the subject matter alone is such an interesting territory of the human universe to be exploring. I know I was shocked by the script and really interested in it." Jared Leto who plays Yuri's younger brother Vitaly says, "This film is really unique. When I read the script I was really surprised because it’s a part political social commentary and part character study of this arms dealer and it’s something I’ve never seen on film before. I’ve never seen a movie about this world at all. It fascinated me and taught me a lot." Bridget Moynahan who plays Yuri's gorgeous agrees. "Lord of War was one of those rare scripts; well written, bold and forgiving. Such great material, plus Nic Cage, meant that I had to do this movie!" Producer Norm Golightly sees "lord Of War" and it's lead character Yuri Orlov this way. “It’s really a snapshot of a character who walks his own moral line, in a way, who sticks to his own code that he’s defined for himself in a world very much grounded in reality. And also a snapshot of how our world works today and what happens behind the scenes, what a lot of people suspect, as opposed to what you see on the news every evening." Some in the audience will find it hard to choose who is the biggest bastard in the film. Is it Yuri? Is it the corruption of Governments? Is it the Dictators? Ethan Hawke, who plays the Interpol Agent pursuing Yuri sums up the message within the film. "The truth of the matter is that this country [the U.S.A.] makes a lot of weapons and we sell a lot of weapons," he said, adding, "And we sell them to a lot of poor people who kill each other with them." Cast & Crew Bytes "LORD OF WAR" stars .......
Nicolas Cage ["Captain Corelli's Mandolin", "Adaptation", "Matchstick Men", "National Treasure" and "The Weather Man"]; Bridget Moynahan ["Coyote Ugly", "Serendipity", "The Sum of All Fears" and "The Recruit"]; Jared Leto ["The Thin Red Line", "Girl, Interrupted", "Requiem for a Dream", "Panic Room" and "Alexander"]; Ethan Hawke ["Tape", "Training Day", "Taking Lives" and "Assault on Precinct 13"]; Sammi Rotibi ["Extramarital", "Ubuntu's Wounds", "The Wounded" and "Tears of the Sun"]; Toni Caprari ["River of Diamonds", "Cyborg Cop II & III", "Tarzan and the Lost City" and "Cold Harvest"]; Jean-Pierre Nshanian ["Symphony of Silence" and "Herostratus"] and Sir Ian Holm ["From Hell", "The Day After Tomorrow", "The Aviator" and "Strangers with Candy"] as Simeon Weisz.
"LORD OF WAR" was .......
directed by Andrew Niccol ["Gattaca" and "S1m0ne"]; screenplay by Andrew Niccol ["Gattaca", "The Truman Show", "S1m0ne" and "The Terminal"]; costume design by Elisabetta Beraldo ["Hart's War", "S1m0ne", "Torque" and "Hostage"]; production design by Jean-Vincent Puzos ["Tykho Moon", "Les Parasites", "The Cat's Meow" and "Paradise Found"]; edited by Zach Staenberg ["Police Academy", "Stripped To Kill", "Nowhere to Run" and "The Matrix I, II & III"]; Director of Photography Amir M Mokri [Life Is Cheap... But Toilet Paper Is Expensive, "Pacific Heights, "The Joy Luck Club", "Don't Say a Word", "Bad Boys II" and "Taking Lives"]; original music by Antonio Pinto ["Palindrome", "City Of God", "Nina" and "Collateral"]. What It's All About

"The cast members are all excellent, and though the film could be accused of contrivance, it makes its points with rare venom and energy." David Stratton ABC AT THE MOVIES

From little things big things grow. But what of the consequences. How much is too much. How much wrong is right. For arms dealer Yuri Orlov there can never be enough wars, enough dictators looking for weapons, enough corrupt goverment officials prepared to protect him. Yuri thinks you 'can' have your cake and eat it too, but it comes at a price. That price is, the risk of losing everything you hold near and dear. Of course losing everything only pains you if you have a concience, a soul. Yuri lost both a long while ago. Yuri's a protected species, as Interpol Agent Ryan is about to find out. You see, Yuri is on a first name basis with almost every despot, dictator and warlord on the planet and the U.S. sometimes needs dealers like him to ship arms to regimes they can't be seen to be supporting. Even Interpol, big as it is, can't change that! The Verdict "For those who haven't worked it out yet, "Lord Of War" will wise them up to a fact that should have been staring them right in the face, when it comes to selling death and destruction, arms dealers and the corrupt governments behind them have no concience. Neither does the United States it seems. Andrew Niccol's tale of one such arms dealer Yuri Orlov, is a dark, disturbing journey in which the most important aspect is, supply and demand. In gun happy U.S.A, the films producers found they couldn't raise a dollar towards the production costs of "Lord Of War". They had to resort to funding their capital through foreign investors. As David McKenna and Nick Cassavetes did with their screenplay for "Blow" so Niccol does with "Lord Of War". Both films paint a dark and disturbing picture of how evil the U.S.A really is. Recommended." Who's Who?

Nicolas Cage Bridget Moynahan Jared Leto Shake Toukhmanian Jean-Pierre Nshanian Ethan Hawke Danie Struwig Toni Caprari Jack Niccol Sammi Rotibi Eamonn Walker Annelene Terblanche Jasper Lenz Kobus Marx Stephan De Abreu Jeremy Crutchley Sir Ian Holm Tanya Finch Lize Jooste Nalu Tripician

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Yuri Orlov Ava Fontaine Orlov Vitaly Orlov Irina Orlov Anatoly Orlov Jack Valentine Interpol Agent Ryan Raoul Young Nicolai Orlov Andre Baptiste Jr Andre Baptiste Sr Angel Gregor Boris Liev Arms Fair Salesman Simeon Weisz Ingrid Natasha Older Nicolai Orlov

The Crew Directed by Andrew Niccol Written by Andrew Niccol Produced by Nicolas Cage/Norman Golightly/Andy Grosch Andrew Niccol/Chris Roberts/Teri-Lin Robertson/Philippe Rousselet Original Music by Antonio Pinto Director of Photography Amir M Mokri Film Editing by Zach Staenberg Production Design by Jean-Vincent Puzos Art Direction by Mike Berg Set Decoration by Fred Du Preez Costume Design by Elisabetta Beraldo Run Time 117 minutes Rated MA15+ [AUST] Copyright ©2006 - Icon Film Distribution - All Rights Reserved Copyright Protected © 2006 - Impact Internet Services & The Movie Pages - All Rights Reserved